Real People Media is coordinating with schools in Northern Lower Michigan on Dbaajimajik. Dbaajimajik means storytellers in Anishnaabemowin, the language of the Odawa and Ojibwe people who were the original inhabitants of the area.
Guided by Real People Media staff and volunteers, students will capture local lore of area residents through a series of videos depicting the local wisdom, traditions, teachings, knowledge and experience of their elders.
Students will select a series of topics to cover. Sample topics include:
Music - Fiddling, drumming, polka, etc.
Sports - Sled dog racing, skiing, basketball,
Food - Morels, wild leeks, hunting, gardening, maple syrup, cranberries.
Water - Fishing - ice fishing, fly fishing, commercial fishing, Boat Building,
Environment - Water quality, fish and animal population, etc.
Work - Boat building, farming, tanning, iron works, etc.
Arts and Leisure - Theater, Venetian Festival
Students will then seek out individuals with the appropriate knowledge and experience to interview on videotape. When appropriate, students will videotape the storyteller or another elder executing the skill explained. If this is not feasible- the students with the help of instructors will attempt to recreate the skill or experience in order to complete the videotaping. The objective is to produce a 5 - 10 minute edited video interview of the storyteller in addition to a 5 -10 minute instructional video.
Schools wishing to participate in this project should contact Rebecca at Real People Media.
Sponsor this Project! Real People media is seeking sponsors to underwrite the cost of this program.
Centennial Farms of Calhoun County -
Centennial Farms of Calhoun County - A 4-H Folk Patterns Project
Real People Media's director, Rebecca Glotfelty, led 4-H youth on the production of a 15 minute documentary on the Centennial Farms of Calhoun County. The project which included visiting 10 of the county's 131 Centennial farms, was an opportunity for 4-H members to discover, document, and then share the importance that agriculture has had on the economic and social life of our community. At each farm, volunteers gather facts about the Centennial Farm, photograph the buildings, and interview the owners and family members.
The project culminated with a multi-media exhibit which includes a 15 minute video.
"A major goal of the project is to produce public awareness on the importance of agriculture and barn preservation in our community, " remarked, Rebeca Glotfelty, project coordinator.
"I feel that working through 4-H is a great opportunity to engage youth in this historical and cultural preservation."
This project was made possible through a grant from the Marshall Community
Foundation.
Foundation. "The farm is the business now." - Lois Maisner
"It's a honor because it's a legacy." - Martha Fuller
"Farming is indeed hard work, but there are
immediate rewards to what you do."
- Florence Van Sickle
"What's happening to the small family farm disturbs me a lot..." - Sterling Treadwell.
"Last year we had the best crops we ever had in our lives." - Wendell Fountain.
Real People Media would like to construct a similar project in Charlevoix and Emmet Counties.
Sponsor this Project! Real People Media is seeking sponsors.
